A question to people who have gone from not eating to eating

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woo1324
woo1324 Posts: 168 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've decided that i may give eating my excercise calories back a try,, usually i dont eat any of them and consider them added weight loss or a buffer if i choose to eat more for that day.

Im not one of those heated debaters on the subject I honestly really couldnt careless if someone does or doesnt I just have decided not to for the last couple of months to see if i can maximise my loss and while i have been seeing results i feel its not really a life change I think eating them back and losing slower would be something i could happily mantain for the rest of my life

BUT I am worried, a weight gain right now would send me psycologicly back to square one, its taken allot for me to get into the mind set where i am and i would hate to ruin it

so a few of my questions did you see a gain or loss if you went from not eating them to eating them?, How long would you say to wait beofre weighing yourself for the first time after starting this?, as i am aware i might see a gain after i start due to water retention higher amounts of food in my stomach etc
Do you eat back excercise calories from every form of excercise? For example would you eat back cals from a slow walk as well as a high intensity cardio workout or just the higher intensity cardio

any other thoughts ? and lol sorry for the novel

Replies

  • woo1324
    woo1324 Posts: 168 Member
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  • Kenyah6247
    Kenyah6247 Posts: 11 Member
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    If you do cardio for at least thirty minutes it's speeds up your heart rate which will rev your matabolism. So if your hungry after your workout by all means you can eat your calories back and still lose weight, and by doing so you're preventing a binge later on. But if the activity is just walking you have burn calories but your heart rate is not high enough to keep the calories burning after so I wouldn't sugest eating the extra calories burned from walking.
  • jennp1313
    jennp1313 Posts: 29
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    I just started the site last month, so I don't have any experience with eating the exercise cals vs. not. But I would think that if you are not eating them and are exceeding your goal weight loss each week, you should not gain if you start eating them, but just lose the exact amount per week that your goal is set at. i know my mom eats hers and she is set to lose a pound a week and she is still losing 1.5 pounds per week even while eating them.

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  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
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    I eat back most of my exercise calories, and I have steadily been losing at at least the rate that I told MFP I wanted to lose.
  • woo1324
    woo1324 Posts: 168 Member
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    Ive set mine at 2 pounds which is what i would feel comfortable with at this stage ,,

    my plan was hide the scales for about a month start eating my excercise cals back and see what the scales say in a months time ,,, just so nervous that i will be unknowingly undoing all the work ive put in and will end up getting on the scales and see a large gain that would just knock me for six
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
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    As long as you are still at a deficit at the end of the day, you will not gain. Remember that MFP already set the deficit for you. Eating your exercise calories puts you right back at the exact deficit that you told MFP you want to accomplish each day. It can freak you out for sure to change things up, but it's all math and the math says you're still going to lose weight as long as you don't go way over your net goal. Especially with a 2 lb per week weightless goal - that means MFP gives you a 1000 calorie deficit each day (assuming your mainteneance would be 2200 or more - if it's less than that then MFP will not be able to give you a 1000 deficit for 2 lbs per week b/c it simply won't recommend anything lower than 1200).

    Just shoot for your net at the end of the day to be fairly close to your calorie goal. Enjoy some or all of your exercise calories. You are working hard for them. :-)
  • jennp1313
    jennp1313 Posts: 29
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    if you eat your exercise cals back and ONLY those, you should not gain weight. you should lose exactly what you would if you weren't exercising, but were staying at or under your calorie goal. You might even still lose more than your goal, because your metabolism might speed up. If you don't eat the exercise calories, you might be TOO calorie deficient, which isn't good for your body or your morale. Maybe try just eating half of the exercise calories you burn, and give it a few weeks. Then consult the scale and make adjustments to your plan if needed.

    12311475.png
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  • BeautyFromPain
    BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
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    I've decided that i may give eating my excercise calories back a try,, usually i dont eat any of them and consider them added weight loss or a buffer if i choose to eat more for that day.

    Im not one of those heated debaters on the subject I honestly really couldnt careless if someone does or doesnt I just have decided not to for the last couple of months to see if i can maximise my loss and while i have been seeing results i feel its not really a life change I think eating them back and losing slower would be something i could happily mantain for the rest of my life

    BUT I am worried, a weight gain right now would send me psycologicly back to square one, its taken allot for me to get into the mind set where i am and i would hate to ruin it

    so a few of my questions did you see a gain or loss if you went from not eating them to eating them?, How long would you say to wait beofre weighing yourself for the first time after starting this?, as i am aware i might see a gain after i start due to water retention higher amounts of food in my stomach etc
    Do you eat back excercise calories from every form of excercise? For example would you eat back cals from a slow walk as well as a high intensity cardio workout or just the higher intensity cardio

    any other thoughts ? and lol sorry for the novel

    Let's just say this, when I wasn't eating them I was only losing 0.4lb per week if that, as soon as I started I started losing 2lbs per week, (even though my calories are only on 1lb loss per week!) It's worth it.
  • Cathleenr
    Cathleenr Posts: 332
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    If you do cardio for at least thirty minutes it's speeds up your heart rate which will rev your matabolism. So if your hungry after your workout by all means you can eat your calories back and still lose weight, and by doing so you're preventing a binge later on. But if the activity is just walking you have burn calories but your heart rate is not high enough to keep the calories burning after so I wouldn't sugest eating the extra calories burned from walking.


    Not This



    Instead of thinking about it as "eating back"..like you are giving something back that was given TO you, consider it part of your overall calorie expenditure for the day and adjust accordingly. for example, if your BMR is 1400 calories a day, doing the calculated activity level, then you need to take in 1400 calories per day to maintain that weight. take in less and you will lose weight. take in more and you will gain. add some exercise to the day, say 30 minutes of cardio for 300 calories. now your daily calorie requirement has been reduced to a net of 1100. since that is below the maintenance threshold, you will lose weight.
    now if you go all out and do an elliptical circuit for an hour, you may burn 800 calories, so now your net is down to 600 calories, which is too low for proper replenishment of nutrients. you would need to increase your calorie intake 800 calories to reach the maintanence level.or, if you want to lose weight, you would need to eat 600 calories....but you DO need to eat.
    when you exercise, amino acids, glycogen and proteins are used, but that isnt where your gains are made. its after, when the muscles are resting and repairing that they need nutrients to do so. if you only have enough calories to sustain your autonomous functions like breathing and blood circulation, your muscles and other less--important organs will begin to suffer...not after one low-calorie meal, mind you, or even 30 low calorie meals, but gradually, within a low-calorie and low-nutrient environment, your overall health will degrade.
    so. figure out your exercise level and eat your caloric requirements accordingly.
  • Bluestar083
    Bluestar083 Posts: 146
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    You might not want to hear this but I went from eating most/all of my exercise calories to rarely eating any (maybe two days a week eating half) and my weight loss went from soooo sloooow-like .1-.2kg a week, to .6-.8kg a week.
    but then I am slim. dont have much to lose and won't be doing MFP for much longer.
    If I had a lot to lose I would totally eat at least half of them back every single day. Cos it's harder doing it this way. But quicker.
    And I know my body-once I'm back to my usual weight I will stay around that weight (+/- 1kg) until I do something stupid like go on a month long holiday overseas again :D
    keep up the great work!
  • millerll
    millerll Posts: 873 Member
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    If you've been seriously under-eating, then all of a sudden start eating all your calories, you may indeed see a few pound gain on the scale. This should even out within 2-3 weeks, though, and then you should start losing again. Just be patient and don't panic. If it worries you too much, then start eating back half your exercise cals for a few weeks, see how you feel, then eat back more in small increments. Also, how you're measuring your exercise calories makes a big difference. Cardio machine readouts will vary significantly from MFP's database. A heart rate monitor is the most accurate, if you have one. And heart rate monitors aren't very accurate during weight lifting, so be careful there. Good luck!
  • Kenyah6247
    Kenyah6247 Posts: 11 Member
    Options
    If you do cardio for at least thirty minutes it's speeds up your heart rate which will rev your matabolism. So if your hungry after your workout by all means you can eat your calories back and still lose weight, and by doing so you're preventing a binge later on. But if the activity is just walking you have burn calories but your heart rate is not high enough to keep the calories burning after so I wouldn't sugest eating the extra calories burned from walking.


    Not This



    Instead of thinking about it as "eating back"..like you are giving something back that was given TO you, consider it part of your overall calorie expenditure for the day and adjust accordingly. for example, if your BMR is 1400 calories a day, doing the calculated activity level, then you need to take in 1400 calories per day to maintain that weight. take in less and you will lose weight. take in more and you will gain. add some exercise to the day, say 30 minutes of cardio for 300 calories. now your daily calorie requirement has been reduced to a net of 1100. since that is below the maintenance threshold, you will lose weight.
    now if you go all out and do an elliptical circuit for an hour, you may burn 800 calories, so now your net is down to 600 calories, which is too low for proper replenishment of nutrients. you would need to increase your calorie intake 800 calories to reach the maintanence level.or, if you want to lose weight, you would need to eat 600 calories....but you DO need to eat.
    when you exercise, amino acids, glycogen and proteins are used, but that isnt where your gains are made. its after, when the muscles are resting and repairing that they need nutrients to do so. if you only have enough calories to sustain your autonomous functions like breathing and blood circulation, your muscles and other less--important organs will begin to suffer...not after one low-calorie meal, mind you, or even 30 low calorie meals, but gradually, within a low-calorie and low-nutrient environment, your overall health will degrade.
    so. figure out your exercise level and eat your caloric requirements accordingly.
  • Kenyah6247
    Kenyah6247 Posts: 11 Member
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    You basically said the same thing I said in more words

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